A recently discovered photograph may be the key to solving the mystery of missing American pilot Amelia Earhart.

Earhart — the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean — disappeared while on a flight around the world 80 years ago. The US declared Earhart dead two years after her disappearance, alleging she must have crashed somewhere in the Pacific Ocean after running out of fuel.

Now some historians believe she survived the plane crash and died in Japanese captivity.

A photograph, discovered by the National Archives, appears to show a woman who looks like Earhart and a man who resembles her navigator Fred Noonan on a dock in the Marshall Islands, NBC reported.

Amelia EarhartGetty Images

Historians believe the picture, labeled “Jaluit Atoll,” was snapped by an American spy in 1937 — the year Earhart went missing.

“When you pull out, and when you see the analysis that’s been done, I think it leaves no doubt to the viewers that that’s Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan,” Shawn Henry, an NBC News analyst and former executive assistant director for the FBI, said of the picture.

Ken Gibson, who specializes in facial recognition, concluded the photo is undoctored and is “very likely” a picture of Earhart and Noonan.

The woman in the photo has short hair and is wearing pants — two characteristics Earhart was known for. But it is the man in the photo who has the closest similarity to the missing Noonan.

“The hairline is the most distinctive characteristic. It’s a very sharp receding hairline. The nose is very prominent,” Gibson said.

The photo discovered in the National Archives shows a woman who resembles Amelia Earhart on a dock in the Marshall Islands.National Archives

“It’s my feeling that this is very convincing evidence that this is probably Noonan,” he added.

The photo also reportedly shows the Japanese ship Koshu towing an object 38 feet long — the same length as Earhart’s plane.

“We believe that the Koshu took her to Saipan [in the Mariana Islands], and that she died there under the custody of the Japanese,” said Gary Tarpinian, the executive producer of the TV special.

Japanese authorities say they have no record of Earhart ever being in their custody, according to NBC.

The photograph is not the only recent clue leading scientists closer to solving the mystery.

Just last month, The International Group for Historic Aircraft Recovery sent bone-sniffing dogs to Nikumaroro, part of the Phoenix Islands in the central Pacific Ocean, to look for Earhart’s remains.